Whether you’re purchasing a new microwave for your dorm room or because your current microwave oven just reached the end of its lifetime, making the time to research the quality and features of a potential new microwave oven is SO important.
Your microwave oven is an essential appliance in your kitchen, so purchasing a durable model that includes all of the features you want is critical. Luckily, microwave ovens today can do a lot more than just reheat your leftovers or warm a cup of water. In fact, you can create countless recipes in a mug with your microwave quickly and relatively mess-free.
In my opinion, shopping for a microwave oven can be just as complicated as buying an actual oven. Many of the latest Sharp microwave ovens models offer express cooking settings, convection cooking, and even flexible placement options.
If you’re shopping for a new microwave oven, our microwave oven buying guide for beginners should provide some things to consider.
Flexible Installation
Consider where you are going to install your microwave oven. It’s a big decision for such a small appliance.
A Microwave DrawerTM Oven allows you to focus on your kitchen’s design and workflow by offering flexible installation options in an island or peninsula or below your wall oven. Talk about having more design potential in the kitchen, right? Unlike standard, built-in microwave ovens, it opens like a drawer, not a door, and it is packed with technology.
This technology takes the microwave oven off the counter for a smooth and streamlined look. The drawer-layout means a larger opening, so it is easier to reach-in and take food in-and-out.
Plus, you can season dishes without removing them from the oven, which is one of my favorite added benefits.
As it turns out, Sharp has been innovating microwave cooking for decades and holds 11 patents on the Microwave DrawerTM platform alone. All Sharp Microwave Drawers open and close with the touch of a button, but some models include an Easy Wave Open feature, so you can open the microwave when your hands are dirty. You can also give the opened drawer a gentle nudge, and our advanced system compensates for the gentle impact to help prevent spills and smoothly gliding to a closed position.
The Microwave DrawerTM is also exceptionally accessible for anyone that needs to use it from a seated position like wheelchairs or scooters, which is an essential factor when choosing a microwave that is best for your home.
Speed and Convenience
Speed and convenience have always helped microwave ovens earn their place in the home, so pay attention to the time savers when purchasing a microwave. Features like defrost and express cook quickly warm up snacks and take the guesswork out of preparing meals, while sensors can calculate cook time based on the amount of steam the food emits. Buttons that allow you to precisely control timing down to the second can be handy. Most models and brands have a “+30 Sec” key.
However, if you want to set it for 2 minutes, that is still 4 touches. That is the same amount of touches as hitting TIME-2-0-0. Sharp® CarouselTM microwave ovens come with Express Cook which allows for 1-touch cooking from 1-6 minutes.
Specialization
Something that has never been seen before in microwave technology is specialization. All microwaves have a POPCORN button, but most people don’t use it. In fact, most bags of microwave popcorn have instructions NOT to use the popcorn button!
Well, the SMC1132CS is one of three Sharp Carousel microwaves that are more than an excellent choice for reheating and everyday cooking, they are also specifically tuned to achieve optimal popping results from the leader in microwave popcorn, Orville Redenbacher’ s®. Each model was specifically tuned, tested, and certified for Orville Redenbacher’s ® Gourmet® Microwave Popping Corn to achieve optimal flavor, aroma and texture balanced against an acceptable number of unpopped kernels.
Yes, it does everything else you have come to expect from a microwave oven, but it is certified by Orville Redenbacher’s ® to achieve optimal popping results.
Bonus Features
If you’re like me and enjoy experimenting with kitchen appliances and use your microwave to prepare entire meals, you will want to look for a unit with the latest innovations and more variable features.
One of the newest features on the Sharp® Carousel TM microwave ovens is Melt. More advanced than the Soften feature, the Melt feature is tuned to quickly melt cheese, chocolate, or soften butter and ice cream.
If you are a recreational baker like I am, this feature is a time-saver for sure. When I am looking to top my creations off with chocolate-covered goodies, I quickly melt my chocolate with this feature.
